The Battle of Hædfeld, 12th October AD632 or 633
Not to give too many spoilers, but below is an account of the battle of Hædfeld on 12th October AD632 or 633 (there is a little bit of confusion surrounding the year and indeed the date due to a belief Bede may not have started the years as we would do).
The Words of Bede from ‘The Ecclesiastical History of the English People’
“EDWIN reigned most gloriously seventeen years over the nations of the English and the Britons, six whereof, as has been said, he also was a servant in the kingdom of Christ. Cadwalla; king of the Britons, rebelled against him, being supported by Penda, a most warlike man of the royal race of the Mercians, and who from that time governed that nation twenty-two years with various success. A great battle being fought in the plain that is called Heathfield, Edwin was killed on the 12th of October, in the year of our Lord 633, being then forty-seven years of age, and all his army was either slain or dispersed. In the same war also, before him, fell Osfrid, one of his sons, a warlike youth; Eanfrid, another of them, compelled by necessity, went over to King Penda, and was by him afterwards, in the reign of Oswald, slain, contrary to his oath.”
Bede, a Northumbrian monk writing a hundred years after the events, was no doubt dismayed that his holy (but only recently converted to Christianity) king, Edwin, was killed by a coalition raised against him, one of whom, Penda, was a pagan. Penda was to cause no end of problems for the Northumbrian kingdom, and its two constituent parts, Bernicia (roughly what we now think of as Northumberland) and Deira (centred around York). It is quite astounding to realise how many people Edwin upset, for it wasn’t just Penda and Cadwallon (believed to have been Edwin’s foster-brother and now king of one of the Welsh kingdoms) who joined the battle. There were many, many people with an axe to grind against Edwin, from the furthest reaches of Britain (check out this post about politics in the seventh century). Yet, victory never seems to have been assured. The two coalitions were almost perfectly poised against one another.
I find the date of the battle quite fascinating. October. Somewhere near Doncaster, on the banks of the River Don (or so it’s been believed for a long time – this might be being reappraised even as I type this). It would, undoubtedly, have been far past what we consider the ‘prime’ time to be battling. Not yet winter, but summer would undoubtedly have been behind them. It was also a long way from home for the alliance arranged against Edwin, in territory belonging to Edwin. I can’t help thinking he should have had the advantage. But that was most certainly not the case at the end of the day.
I’ve said before, and I’ll repeat it again, as much as we look at this period and see bloody warfare, what we’re really looking at is family politics played out with sword, seax, shield and spear. Edwin was Cadwallon’s foster-brother. Edwin’s son turned on his father and allied with the ‘enemy.’ One of those who joined the alliance against him was his nephew (Edwin’s sister’s son). Edwin had killed his father to become king and he was living in exile. The coming decades saw constant unease between Mercia and Northumbria, which erupted into full-blown war on two subsequent occasions, at Maserfeld in 641/2 (close to the Welsh border) and Winwæd in 655 (again, believed to be somewhere vaguely in the ‘north’ of England, and this time in November!). The ebb and flow of battle undoubtedly categorised these men (and women). While Bede portrays events with religious connotations (for he is writing an eccelsiastical history) it is much more likely family dynamics were at play with their attendent treachery, betrayal and sometimes, more rarely, loyalty.
You can read about this period in my Gods and Kings trilogy.
Check out the Gods and Kings Trilogy page to find articles about the trilogy and Britain in the Seventh Century.
MJ Porter 
